As a first for Patron, in our cover story we highlight a painting by Spain’s
colossal artist Joaquín Sorolla, who enjoyed tremendous success during the
Gilded Age. The prolific painter’s artworks were widely received in a 1909

exhibition in New York at The Hispanic Society of America, owned by the
scholar Archer M. Huntington. Dr. Mark Roglán, The Linda P. and William
A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum, tells us: “Sorolla is the most
celebrated international artist that Spain had until the arrival of Pablo Picasso,
and his enormous success in the United States became a phenomenon that
inspired patrons, artists, and the public of his time.” Transported by sea, the
Valencian social realist, portrait, and landscape artist sold an astounding 195

paintings in 1909. “Bringing to Dallas the largest exhibition of Sorolla’s work
in over a hundred years seems a great way to celebrate the artist in the country
that loved his work so much,” adds Roglán, who also serves as the Centennial
Chair in the Meadows School of the Arts.

At The MAC, Lisa Hees, the 26-year-old brilliant director, leads the 20th
year for this novel institution. Since 1994, “Mixmasters” shows how established and emerging local, national, and international artists align, illuminate,
and characterize the experimental space that is also home to Kitchen Dog
Theater.

The Magician is a decade-in-the-making dexterous art book nestled in anextraordinary carrying case—the resultant offspring of sketchbooks createdby artist Chris Byrne through those illustrative years. Brandon Kennedy, abibliophile who works at Heritage Auctions, describes his interesting encoun-ter with said book in “Man in the Box.” Chris’s lofty elements within the titlewere challenging to say the least, as recalled by publisher Ed Marquand ofMarquand Books: “After each time I spoke to him about his ambitions, I feltlike taking a nap to recover from our conversation.” Though Byrne’s exact-ing approaches made the title an artistic triumph, “Chris and I didn’t set outto change the direction of fine art press traditions, but that’s exactly whatwe’ve done. I started Paper Hammer Studios with the hope that one day wecould create special, extraordinary books that blurred the line between bookpublishing and fine arts. Chris forced my hand with The Magician, and here Iam—the publisher I hoped someday to become.”In “Western Union” interior designer Mary Anne Smiley chooses con-temporary works from local galleries to complement an important collectionof Western art. Written by Patricia Mora, the story of the residence offers aglimpse of how the differing styles blend and contrast with Smiley’s customfurnishings.

Two fashion features limn the pages in this issue. Photographed by Wade
Livingston and styled by Jeanette Chivvis, a model absorbs the yellow and
green refracted light from Alfredo Jaar’s Music (Everything I know I learned the
day my son was born), an installation in the Nasher Garden as part of the Nasher
XChange. Harnessing the first cries of newborns, the earliest seconds of life
are recorded at area hospitals through February 1 creating a musical composition played at the precise time of each birth. Next, Shayna Fontana’s lens
found the work of Denton-based Randell Morgan, whose polyhedrals, kaleidoscopes, and sculpture combine with sophisticated grunge looks chosen by
stylist Carlos Alonso Parada.

Our Departments offer a preview of the return of abstractionist Susan
Sales for a January show at Craighead Green Gallery, and we explore the new
Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building on UTD’s campus.

Finally, in “The Sweetest Thing,” four pastry chefs craft mind-bending
indulgences in Maxine Helfman’s studio for Patron. Forget the diet. A bite of
one of these marvelous morsels won’t hurt and are sure to mark a blissful end
to 2013 and, likewise, a delicious beginning to the New Year.